Water, Water Everywhere?

One third of the world’s population is already short of water, according to a UN report to be released in November 2006. A main culprit behind the increasing scarcity is agriculture – it requires about 3000 liters of water to grow enough food for a person to eat one day. With an increasing global population, agriculture’s demand for water will double by 2050. World water supplies could be adequate for the increased population if arid countries agreed to import more food from nations with more rainfall. Farmers could conserve more water by relying less on expensive irrigation projects and more on small devices that collect rainfall. Also adding uncertainty to future water supplies is a changing climate. – YaleGlobal